Brust's 3-pointer lifts Badgers in OT

February 09, 2013|Reuters

The Sports Xchange

Brust's 3-pointer lifts Badgers in OT

MADISON, Wisc. -- It was a game of big shots.

But none were bigger than the two Wisconsin guard Ben Brust drilled, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 39 seconds left in overtime to give the Badgers a 65-62 upset victory over the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines at the Kohl Center.

And yes, the Wisconsin student section did storm the court after its team moved into a second-place tie in the Big Ten.

Michigan (21-3, 8-3 Big Ten) had a chance to up Brust's 3-pointer but Tim Hardaway Jr. missed his layup attempt with 24 seconds left, forcing Michigan to play the fouling game.

Wisconsin senior forward Ryan Evans, a 42.5 percent free-throw shooter, missed the front end of his one-and-one. The secured rebound gave Michigan 12 seconds to respond.

Trey Burke, who had a game-high 19 points, attempted a 3-pointer with about 5 seconds left, but Evans got his fingers on the rebound and tipped it to Brust, who secured the ball for the victory.

Brust, who led Wisconsin in scoring with 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting, wouldn't have been in position to sink the game winner in overtime if not for his heroics in the closing seconds of regulation.

Wisconsin (17-7, 8-3) was down 60-57 with 2.5 seconds left in regulation. Brust took the inbounds pass from Mike Brusewitz, who was at the baseline at the other end of the floor, and got off a heave from just inside the half-court line that hit nothing but net to even the score and sent play to overtime.

Brust said he was expecting to get fouled so he made sure to get it off when he could. He called it the biggest shot of his basketball career.

"That one wins by a long shot," Brust said. "Then to be able to win the game in overtime makes it that much sweeter."

Michigan coach John Beilein said his team was instructed to foul Brust before his half-court heave.

"We were trying to foul, that was the instruction coming out. We had two fouls to give, go foul," Beilein said. "(Brust) turned the corner on Caris (LeVert) and he couldn't get it done on time."

Hardaway, who finished with 18 points, drained what Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan called a "tough" 3-pointer from the top of the key with Badgers defenders in his face and 2.5 seconds left to give Michigan the 60-57 lead.

The possession before that, Wisconsin's Jared Berggren drove from the 3-point line and threw down an authoritative dunk that drew a blocking call against Burke, who slid in late. Berggren, a 70.1 percent free-throw shooter entering the game, calmly sank the free throw to even things 57-57. He finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.

"It was a great dunk. I thought I was outside of the charge area," Burke said. "But sometimes you don't get those calls. I think that gave them a lot of momentum."

Berggren called this one "an instant classic" and Brusewitz said it was one of the three biggest wins of his collegiate career.

Things eventually got going offensively in this one, but offense was at a premium to open the affair as the two teams combined to start 0 of 4 from the field before Evans ended the drought about 2 minutes in. He finished with 11 points and nine rebound.

Wisconsin freshman forward Sam Dekker entered the game at the 14:42 mark, grabbed three rebounds and scored seven points on 3-of-3 shooting in roughly 6:30. He finished the first half with four rebounds and a game-high nine points on 4-of-7 shooting. He finished with 12 points and five rebounds.

Michigan took longer than Wisconsin to get its offense going and found itself down 23-14 with 7:54 left in the half. At that time Michigan was 6 of 21 from the floor.

Burke and Hardaway kept Michigan in the game, scoring 14 of Michigan's 29 first-half points and giving the Wolverines a 29-28 advantage at the break. Each player had seven points on 3-of-8 shooting.

Notes: This was the 155th meeting between the two teams. Michigan owns an 87-68 all-time advantage while the Badgers lead the series in games played in Madison, 46-32, after Saturday. ... Burke ended his three-game streak with eight assists at three games. Burke entered the game averaging 7.2 assists per game, best in the Big Ten and seventh best in the nation. He finished Saturday with four. ... The Wolverines extended their losing streak at the Kohl Center to 11 games with Saturday's loss. The streak began Feb. 12, 2000, when the Badgers won 75-59. Michigan's last win in Madison came in a 51-39 affair in 1999, which was later vacated by the NCAA. The last official win in Madison for the Wolverines came in 1991 during a 69-68 overtime contest. ... Entering the game, Wisconsin had won five of its last six home games against teams ranked in the AP top 25, beginning with an 89-75 victory over No. 2 Pittsburgh on Dec. 16, 2006. Michigan entered this one ranked No. 3 in the AP.